What are your top tips for coping with night feeds? Share your advice with MAM - £200 voucher to be won

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Whether you’re breastfeeding, bottle, or mixed feeding, coping with night feeds can be really hard. Perhaps you found sharing the responsibility with your partner, establishing a routine early on or making small changes really helped you manage? Whatever your advice is on coping with night time feeds, share them on the thread - you could really help another MNer.

• Share your tips on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
• One MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice.

Here’s what MAM has to say: “Here at MAM we believe in supporting every mum on their feeding journey whichever journey they choose. We want mums to join us in supporting each other, MAM has a solution to help parents feel confident and babies feel good.”

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Making sure that ivwear cosy pjs so that when I'm sitting feeding im not freezing.

Having an early night so that the wakes dont make me too tired

Being organised and Preparing the bottle as quickly as possible

• A good chair to sit on.

• Nightlight lamp with a remote control.

• For ease and speed, breastfeed at night (if that works for you) or bring the Perfect Prep machine upstairs for the night feeds.

I'd go to bed after the feed around 5/6pm so that I'd have had 4 hours sleep when the first feed of the night was due. After the 2am-ish feed, DS was always really restless so I'd usually end up propped up on a few pillows and he'd sleep on me.
We used a cot that had an up and over side so it could be right up against the bed, with both mattresses at the same height. Much easier on my back and less disruptive for moving him in and out of the cot.

Next to me cot by my bedside.

Trolley at the end of cot with diaper, spare clothes, bottles, pump so I don't have to move throughout the night.

I wake up to breastfeed the baby and its DH turn to burp and change baby between 8 to 2 that way I get maximum sleep. He also takes baby with him if being fussy

Take at least 1 nap with baby during the day. I haven't done this in a while but will start again as I am running low on brain cells to think!

I really struggled with the night feeds, especially when my daughter would have formed a routine but then out of no where change her routine and leave me having to reassess what make her and myself comfortable. Of course this is totally common but when you are a tired mama it throws you off track!

I have her in a next to me baby cot. Once she wakes up I'd get out of bed and get on my feeding chair. Staying in bed is risky for me as it's a place of comfort and sleeping. I'd burp her after her feed, she's breast fed but definitely needs burping. The key for me is to get out of bed and feed her. That way I know I'm sat properly and comfortably and my mind knows it's time to feed.

Prepare! Whether it’s boob or bottle - have everything you need within reach before the feed or night begins. Muslins, snacks, water, remote, phone, nappies, wipes… more water and snacks if you’re breastfeeding!

I had a little caddy with everything in it that I could need throughout the night all ready so I wasn’t tired, cold/dark and searching for things. I could do pretty much everything without getting out of bed because it was all right beside me, and as was she in the snuzpod!

Do whatever works for you mums - be guided by your baby. Every mum is different because every baby is different - and you can’t spoil your baby too much, soak up every snuggle!

Have everything to hand before I go to bed. Also make sure I have a big bottle of water as BF made me really thirsty at night. I also go to bed early to make sure I get enough sleep spread out throughout the night.

Everything close by; water, night light and muslins. Feed him as soon as I hear him stirring as then he stays half asleep and it's much easier than if he has started crying. Try to stay sleepy myself by not going on my phone (hard!).
My top tip is stop watching the clock. I used to feel the need to be able to tell people all the times he woke up to feed and count how much sleep we got. Felt so much better when I stopped. I just go with how I feel now and only check the time if I actually want to know rather than habit.

My top 3 tips:

Do a nappy check and change before the feed begins. If your baby falls asleep during the feed you don't want to have to wake them up again to change their nappy!

As hard as it is, resist the temptation to look at your phone in the night - the blue light makes it harder to get back to sleep afterwards. Audiobooks are a good option if you want to while away the time.

I always have a snack on hand and sometimes a cup of decaf tea in a keep-hot mug so that I don't have to go downstairs.

What we did was tag team so one could rest and the other could feed then swap. What really helped as well - I had to stop breastfeeding to take medication - we had one of those machines which made the formula bottle up and heated it up, that was a godsend

Best thing we had was a light with different settings - so we could mostly put it on dim at night but if we managed to drop something or needed to find something we could very briefly turn the light up a bit. Also night lights in the hallways.

I would say an uncomfy chair is good, purely because I would fall asleep in any position in a comfortable one at night.

And getting parter to get up with the baby first thing if you have been up often in the night to allow a bit more sleep.

For me, learning to breastfeed laying down and following safe sleep guidance for bed sharing meant we all get more sleep and feel more rested in the morning.

Other than that it's to have a big bottle of cold water in a stay-cold style bottle next to the bed and never look at the clock!

Next to me on my side of the bed. Trying to get some sleep in before the first wake up made the sleep deprivation through night feeds a little more bearable. A lamp close by so you can see what you are doing but dim so it doesnt cause baby to fully wake up. Water on the side of the bed to help with the dehydration you feel :)

My tips are do everything quietly, and calmly - and in the dark, I did this with my DC's whilst breast feeding, and after winding, they settled really quickly, as they were not too awake and alert.

I splashed out and bulk bought mini ready made bottles. Used to just keep those upstairs with a ton of sterilised bottles. Quick and easy

I have a small night light, and a next to me crib so I can lean over and pick up to feed. I try to be as quiet as possible, talking quietly, and reassuring whilst feeding. I always make sure that they are winded enough before putting them in the crib, with me as close to them as possible, and hope that the next time they wake - the sun will have risen.

My top tips are:

In the early days go to bed before your partner so you can have a couple of hours sleep before they head to bed.

Keep a drink by your bedside, it is thirsty work. Also a snack if you get peckish!

Change the baby in the room with you to minimise disruption. A night light helps.

Have extra pillows near by if you need to prop yourself up.

Have a book or your phone at the ready for long feeds.

Finally don't be too hard on yourself, try not to think about the lack of sleep or how many hours you have until you have to get up, its not forever. Cherish it while you can. Some of my favourite times were the 3am feeds, drinking them in, just the two of us together.

Remember one day you will wish you were still doing them. They are special times just you and baby while the rest of the world is asleep.

Get ready, wipes bibs, a drink for mum
Have a calming bedtime routine -keep things quiet and dark
Keep your baby close and calm
Share night feeds - express and get some sleep
Hide the clock it makes you feel the worst if you go to bed a 10 and are up again at 2am
Feel a sense of solidarity with mums you have met at parent classes
Find a relaxing way to pass the time - netflix or short youtube videos
Remember this won't be forever.

Co-sleeping after making sleeping arrangements as safe as possible. That way we all slept.

I always tried to keep the bedroom as dark as possible so that it was easier not to wake up full and to get back to sleep after easily

Night feeds were hard, lack of sleep really can turn you into a monster! My partner and I took it in turns, it's all about surviving those first few months 😫

My top tip is stop watching the clock. I used to feel the need to be able to tell people all the times he woke up to feed and count how much sleep we got. Felt so much better when I stopped. I just go with how I feel now and only check the time if I actually want to know rather than habit

Thisso much better once I had stopped clock watching.

Back lit kindle you can hold and change the page with one hand

The best way i found was to split as much as possible with my DH. I exclusively breastfed so he couldn’t help with the feeding, but he’d do all the nighttime nappy changes and resettling.